Enter your details and this calculator estimates total daily energy expenditure from your BMR and activity level, then immediately turns it into a usable calorie target for cutting, maintaining or bulking — with a macro split and a projected weekly weight change so you can sanity-check whether the pace is realistic. It shows all six activity levels side by side so you can see how much the multiplier choice matters, and cross-checks the Mifflin–St Jeor figure against Harris–Benedict and (with a body fat percentage) Katch–McArdle. Pair it with the macro calculator for detailed macronutrient planning or the body fat calculator to get the body fat percentage that unlocks the lean-mass formula.
TDEE Calculator
Your true daily burn, then the calorie target and macros for whichever direction you are heading.
About you
Your TDEE (maintenance)
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BMR (Mifflin–St Jeor)—
Activity multiplier—
Your goal target
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Suggested macros at that target
TDEE at every activity level
Show the math
Other BMR formulas
Harris–Benedict—
Katch–McArdle—
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What TDEE actually is
Total daily energy expenditure is everything your body burns in 24 hours. It has four parts: your basal metabolic rate (roughly 60–70% of the total — the energy spent staying alive at rest), the thermic effect of food (about 10%, the cost of digesting what you eat), exercise activity, and non-exercise activity thermogenesis or NEAT — fidgeting, walking to the shops, standing up. NEAT varies enormously between people and is the main reason two people of identical size can have TDEEs several hundred calories apart.
How the number is built
The calculator starts with your BMR from the Mifflin–St Jeor equation, the formula the American Dietetic Association found most accurate for the general population, then multiplies it by an activity factor between 1.2 and 2.1. That multiplier is a blunt instrument — it is a population average, not a measurement — which is why the honest way to use any TDEE figure is as a starting point to be corrected against reality.
Choosing your activity level honestly
Most people overestimate here, which is the single biggest source of error. "Moderately active" means genuine training on three to five days, not an intention to train. If you have a desk job and go to the gym three times a week, you are lightly to moderately active, not very active. A physical job — trades, warehouse, nursing on your feet all shift — is what pushes you into the top brackets. When in doubt, pick the lower option: it is easier to notice you are losing weight faster than expected than to work out why you are not losing at all.
Turning TDEE into a target
Fat loss comes from eating below TDEE, and a 10–20% deficit is the sustainable range. A pound of body fat stores roughly 3,500 kcal, so a 500 kcal daily deficit predicts about a pound a week — the projection shown above uses that arithmetic. Real results run slower than the maths because your body adapts: as you lose weight your BMR falls and NEAT often drops too. Recalculate every 4–5 kg or so.
For muscle gain, a surplus of 10% is usually plenty. Larger surpluses add fat faster than they add muscle, because the rate at which you can build tissue is capped by training and recovery, not by calories available.
Calibrating against reality
Eat at your calculated maintenance for two to three weeks, weighing yourself at the same time each morning and taking a weekly average. If the average is flat, the estimate is right. If it moves, adjust by 10% and repeat. That empirical number beats any formula, because it accounts for your actual NEAT, digestion and training. Our BMR calculator covers the resting component in more depth, and the macro calculator goes further on splitting the target between protein, carbs and fat.
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Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between BMR and TDEE?
BMR is what you burn at complete rest — just keeping your organs running. TDEE is BMR plus digestion, exercise and all incidental movement. TDEE is always the larger number and it is the one you eat against; BMR is only an input to it.
How accurate is a TDEE calculator?
For most people it lands within about 10% of the true value, which on a 2,500 kcal TDEE is a 250 kcal margin. The activity multiplier is the weak link. Treat the result as a starting estimate, then adjust based on two to three weeks of actual weight data.
Which activity level should I pick?
Count real training sessions, not intentions. Desk job with no exercise is sedentary; desk job plus three gym sessions is lightly to moderately active. Only pick the top levels if you have a physically demanding job or train twice a day. Most people overestimate — when unsure, choose lower.
How big a calorie deficit should I use?
10–20% below TDEE. That is typically 250–500 kcal per day and predicts roughly 0.5–1 lb (0.25–0.5 kg) of fat loss per week. Larger deficits cost you muscle and adherence without speeding fat loss proportionally.
Why has my weight loss stalled at the same calories?
As you get lighter your BMR drops, and reduced NEAT plus better exercise efficiency shrink the deficit further. This is normal metabolic adaptation, not a broken metabolism. Recalculate your TDEE at your new weight every 4–5 kg and adjust.
Does TDEE include the calories I burn exercising?
Yes — that is what the activity multiplier accounts for. Do not add your workout calories on top, and do not 'eat back' calories your watch reports, since fitness trackers routinely overestimate exercise burn by 20–50% and you would be double-counting.